Deathscapes

Alan Kurdi- Intro 2- Aylan Viu - parallax 0

One particular photo of Alan’s body (taken by Nilüfer Demir), lying on the beach, spread quickly through social media outlets and news networks (Vis and Goriunova, 2015). It was also widely used in campaigns by international human rights organizations, UN humanitarian aid agencies, artists, and political cartoonists.

The story of Alan and his family – only his father survived the short but treacherous journey – marked a turning point at that time in debates about the rights, and treatment of asylum-seekers crossing the Mediterranean, and their treatment on making landfall. It threw into relief the inadequate response of the EU as a whole to the plight of people like Alan and his family, and those of the 65 million other forcibly displaced persons in the world today (UNHCR, 2018).

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Civil war, military conflicts, famine and deprivation are forcing millions of people to undertake risky and life-threatening journeys to safety in the hope that refugee-status will provide them sanctuary under international law.